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I say go for the Chinese! They can claim Indochina in your version already, and they seem capable enough! :D
 
@Cybvep: Ironically, France will likely surrender before the UK does, due to the UK taking some of Italy's VPs.

@Konnigratz: I've never seen the war start so late, and was honestly expecting it to not happen. AI Japan is told to not fire the decision until it thinks it can win or it feels China is too threatening. With 4 more years of preparation on both sides, it'll be interesting to see what happens, since I'm pretty sure Japan attacked because it felt China was too strong after it beat the communists.

@Enewald: Depending on who I bring into the Axis, either Japan or China will be able to claim Indochina. However, neither nation meets the threat threshold in order to join. I've been pumping up the USSR's threat for the past 3 years though, and Japan will be able to join pretty soon due to its low neutrality. If I want to go with China, I'll need to wait a little longer.

@Slan: Maybe I will, maybe I won't :) Although I recently (yesterday) stumbled across a Japanese series of radio dramas, movies, comics, and novels called Kerberos Saga in which Japan joins the UN and China joins the Axis. In the stories, Germany wins the Battle of Stalingrad and forces the USSR into the Bitter Peace. Germany then occupies Japan, with the stories' themselves starting in 1950. The whole thing was written in the middle '80s. My navy isn't ready for that scenario if I choose to invite China, but might be if/when I beat the Soviets. The next two battle fleets will be ready once the 2 carriers are completed in January of '42.
 
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You don't need to defeat the Japanese, they will make a peace with China if they are kicked out of the continent anyway.
By the way, Japan would only make a normal attack if it felt China too threatening. They made the Marco Polo decision instead, which means they felt strong enough to defeat the Chinese. (The Chinese had too many units when the decision became available because they had a higher Officer Ratio than intended at the start of the game, so they could build more units. The AI doesn't build units unless it has a not-that-bad Officer Ratio.)
 
I think I also favour the Chinese - they have defeated the Communists and they have rejected a NAP with the Soviets and all the warlords are on board - pretty much ideal from a German point of view!

Of course this is 1941, so who knows how this war will play out? Perhaps wait and see? And since its on the other side of the world I don't think I would worry too much about the IJN. Ultimately Germany can manage very well without involving itself in Asia at all.
 
Chapter 27: Weeks 47 - 52 - The End of the Allied Powers

Due to China's rejection of both aid from the United States and the Soviet Union, in addition to years of military build up and preparations by the Reich's advisers, von Ribbentrop was told to notify Japanese ambassador Ōshima that the Reich was unable to recognize Manchukuo and would continue to support the Republic of China. Ōshima was greatly insulted, as for the previous 4 years von Ribbentrop had been pressing for Hitler to abandon his support for China. However, Hitler and the other cabinet members felt that while China would most likely be unable to attack Japan itself, China was more than capable of pushing Japan out of the Asian continent. Only time would tell if their predictions were accurate.

On the Scottish front, by April 27th, Armee 1 had made significant progress in its attack against Scapa Flow. By May 5th, the islands surrounding the harbor had been taken, prompting the surviving RN fleet to flee. However, Admiral Raeder's Flotte 1 was in position for such an attempt. On May 6th at 15:00, Flotte 1 engaged the RN fleet led by Admiral Cunningham, with II. Fliegerkorps providing air support. Six hours later, Cunningham had managed to break through the blockade and headed north toward Orkney Islands, but not without losing 10 destroyers and the HMS Revenge. Raeder immediately regrouped and pursued, despite the damage the KMS Köln received. Because most of his destroyers were crippled, he ordered the flotilla to return to Scapa Flow for repairs.


The Battle of Moray Firth

Eight hours later, in the early hours of May 7, Flotte 1 encountered the rear elements of Admiral Cunningham's fleet. The RN, tired, demoralized, and out of supplies, lost the battleship HMS Warspite and 10 more destroyers, before the fled into the protection of the harbor. This was to be the last major engagement between the Royal Navy and the Kriegsmarine.


The final engagement between the KM and RN fleets

On May 1, 1941, after paratroopers landed in Lyon, 9 French divisions were captured north of the city of Vichy, and Vichy itself falling into the Reich's control, France's government fled Europe to reorganize in Africa. However, not every member of the French government fled, and Philippe Pétain remained behind and formed a new government, one which sought peace with Germany. The Reich accepted Pétain's offer, and the French Republic ceased to exist, being replaced by the French State. Once the former cabinet members and military commanders arrived in French Equatorial Africa, they were arrested and executed as traitors.

The terms of the French Armistice were harsh, with Germany and Italy occupying territory outside of the so-called "French Zone" in the south until the war was concluded. After the UK was defeated, which all parties agreed would happen soon, Germany would annex completely Eastern and Northeastern France, as well as several naval bases along the English Channel and Atlantic Ocean, but would return the rest of France. Italy would be granted Corsica, Tunisia, and everything south and east of the river Rhone, while giving up its conquests in Algeria. Germany wished to inflict upon France the humiliation it had suffered under the Treaty of Versailles, and partition the nation is such a way as to ensure German and Italian domination of Europe. Unlike the United Kingdom, France would remain an independent sovereign nation if it accepted the terms of the armistice.

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France sues for peace, settling for governing its colonies and the south until the war ended

On May 9, revolutionaries in Iraq deposed the UK-backed government. Seeking legitimacy and outside support, the new government, led by Rashid Aali al-Gaylani, asked for support from Germany and the Axis. The Reich and Italy, seeing the opportunity to create another front against the UK's colonial forces arrayed against Italy, accepted Iraq into the Axis powers. The remnants of the UK's government, feeling that the situation could be reversed by its colonial forces, declared war on Iraq.


Germany accepts Iraq into the Axis Powers

On May 24, 1940, the Reich began Unternehmen Felix: the invasion of Gibraltar. The four marine divisions of the Kriegsmarine had fully recovered from their battles in France, and with the support of Flotte 1, began the assault upon the mountain. The invasion lasted a mere two days, due to the defenders having run out of food and other supplies weeks earlier.


The Reich manages to capture the crucial city of Gibraltar in two days

Following the success of Unternehmen Felix, the Reich performed the airborne Unternehmen Herkules in Malta on May 29. The battle lasted two days, with the loss of 150 paratroopers. Again, the Maltan defenders were poorly fed and lacking good ammunition. With its homeland gone and the loss of two of its 4 major naval bases, it was only a matter of time until the UK surrendered.


Unternehmen Herkules is successful, with lower than expected casualties

The day after the Battle of Malta began, Italy declared war on Greece after months of negotiations. Italian fascist dictator Mussolini wanted to prove his worth to the alliance. However, rather than redouble efforts to regain areas of Libya, Mussolini declared war on Greece, despite having only a division of militia located in Albania. To the Reich, Italy's dictator was clearly either mad or worryingly incompetent. For its part, the UK felt that it could still help Greece, and brought Greece into the Allied Powers.


Italy attacks Greece after months of provocations. Unfortunately Italy didn't have any troops in place to begin the invasion

On June 2nd, both Jordan and Kuwait were occupied by Iraq, who was proving to be much more useful and ally than Italy. However, both nation's governments fled to Africa, in the hopes that the UK could aid them.

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Jordan and Kuwait (not shown) are occupied by Iraq

On June 3, the remaining Luftwaffe paratroopers land and retake the Libyan port of Tobruk. While a minor accomplishment in itself, the repercussions of the operation would be felt 2 days later.

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The Reich retakes the Libyan city of Tobruk

On June 5th, 1940, the United Kingdom surrendered to the German Reich. This day will be forever remembered as a day of ultimate triumph, and the end of the War in the West. Many people across the globe wept in joy, while many others wept in sorrow. All of the UK's semi-autonomous colonies were finally free from their colonial masters, and two new nations arose from the chaos: Cyprus and Jamaica. During the chaos caused by the sudden surrender, Canada quickly occupied all UK and Dutch land in the Americas, while Australia quickly took control of the naval bases in the Pacific and the city of Hong Kong. Malaya took over Singapore, Yemen reoccupied the southern portion of its own country as well as the island of Socotra, and Indonesia became an independent nation.

As per the terms of the UK surrender, the areas taken over by other nations would remain under their control for the immediate future, in order to allow nations not involved in the war to assert their own territorial claims at a later date. The UK's former colonies would cease any hostile acts, and the Commonwealth nations would withdraw and sign a peace treaty. South Africa's treaty stipulated that Germany would give it custodianship over Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Malawi, Rwanda, and Burundi.

The war was over, for the time being. The two major nations that caused Germany's defeat and subsequent humiliation had been utterly crushed and defeated. All that remained was the negotiations and transfer of the UK's and France's former territory. Italy, however, remained at war with Greece, and the conflict had yet to be resolved.


The United Kingdom surrenders, ending the war.
 
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Is US likely to join soon? If not, I think SU will have little chance.
 
Fascinating update!

I have yet to witness the fall of the British Empire in my tests. The re-shaping of the world you describe sounds very interesting. :)

Unfortunately, it is not completely included yet in the "official release"... But it will be soon, promise :D
 
@CptEasy: Well, with the fall of the UK and France, the two major Allied naval powers, the Allies are done. In the next chapter I'll post a screen showing that the Allied faction is empty. Since I plan to support China instead of Japan, there's little chance of the USA joining the war at the moment. However, since Slan and I have already taken this situation into account, there is a chance that the USA will form the United Nations and reform the Allies with possibly everyone in that corner of the triangle plus any Central and South American nations that want to join (they get a huge neutrality loss when they join the UN). While this hasn't happened yet (we forgot to add a global flag to the UK's surrender event; I modded my save to add it), it should fairly soon. The Soviets will have a much better chance than you'd think, depending on what they built plus my low MP after France. I'll get more into that later.

@Enewald: I'll post one at the end of the territorial negotiations, as a lot more happened than what I described.

@SSmith: Slan rewrote the UK's surrender in the case that no other majors or powerful mediums (50+ IC) remained in the Allies, which is what happened here. I then wrote up the negotiation decisions/events, made sure they worked, then grabbed pictures for the next chapter. Some tweaks need to be made, but these new features will become part of the HPP possibly this weekend. If there's a lot of positive feedback, I'd like to extend the idea to similar situations, like Thailand demanding the return of parts of Indochina and Malaya.
 
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Chapter 28: Weeks 53 & 54 - Border Negotiations

After the surrender of the Allied Powers, there was much work to be done in order to deal with the chaos surrounding the UK's surrender. The massive empire held territory in every region of the world, and some nations wanted some of that land returned to them. The first actions were to give the island of Malta to Italy.


The Reich hands Malta over to Italy. (Author's note: the Allies faction progress is a bug; if I had saved and reloaded before taking the picture then it would be at 0)

Next, the Reich had to handle the five exiled governments. Jordan and Kuwait were annexed by Iraq, Italy gained the Belgian Congo, and Germany annexed Denmark, Belgium, and the Netherlands directly. Canada gained control of the Dutch American colonies. The nations' respective leaders were exiled from their homeland, in return for not being arrested. The reason Italy gained the Congo, as opposed to Germany, was that despite Italy's poor performance, it was in much better shape to police and control Africa. The Reich lost many men while fighting in France, and was unable to control the former colonies and be prepared to face the Soviet Union at the same time.


The exiled governments surrender

iraqigains.jpg

Iraq annexes Jordan and Kuwait

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Italy incorporates the Congo into the Kingdom of Italy

Next, on June 7th, the Reich had completed preparations to release Ireland and the United Kingdom from military control. Puppet governments were installed in both nations, and Ireland was given control over the entire Island, ending the 20 years of separation. To many observers, the question arose as to why a puppet government was installed in the UK while France was left independent. There are several answers, but little evidence as to which is true. The reality is mostly likely a combination of things.

First, the sailors of the Royal Navy scuttled the fleet at Orkney, rather than allow Germany to seize it, per the terms of the surrender. While not completely unexpected, the Kriegsmarine was hoping to use the captured vessels to supplement its own building program for a possible war with either Japan or the United States. Second, while the French sued for peace after it was clear that it would lose, the UK dragged out the war for several months despite losing its homeland. If the British had been more open to surrender, then it may have been possible that the Reich would have been more generous with the peace terms. Finally, from a strategic perspective, the Reich could not allow the UK to regain its colonial holdings. By installing a puppet government and making the UK become an autonomous region of the Reich, the Reich prevented the UK from being able to once again assert itself on a global level. The new government would be unable to call the Commonwealth to its aid, and be divorced from global policy, thus preserving Germany's domination of Europe.

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Ireland and the United Kingdom become autonomous regions of the German Reich

On June 8, the French ambassador, Georges Scapini, approached the Reich with concerns about the return of French territory, as per the Vichy Armistice. The French State wanted Germany to return all occupied land, except for the region of Alsace-Lorraine, in return for signing the Anti-Comintern Pact. Von Ribbentrop refused, pointing to the sections of the armistice that described the planned border changes. The Reich felt that annexing the previously agreed territories was better than having France join as an ally. After two days of negotiations, in which the French made clear they would fight for their land, a compromise was made that was very similar to the original terms of the armistice. The German Reich would hand over the UK's West African colonies to France, and Italy would return the portions of Algeria it had taken. In return, France was to cede Tunisia, Corsica, and everything east and south of the Rhone river to Italy, Eastern and Northeastern France as well as the ports of Cherbourg, Le Havre, St. Nazaire, and Quimper to the German Reich. France would remain independent and not be forced to sign an alliance. The territorial changes came into effect at 11:00 on June 10.


The French State cedes large portions of France to the victorious Axis powers in exchange of remaining independent

At the same time that the French State was negotiating border changes, South Africa demanded that Germany formally cede the UK's colonies it was promised as per the terms of the truce. Due to a backlog of activity in the Reich's foreign ministry, the territory was never officially ceded to South Africa. Rather than risk a war in such a remote location, von Ribbentrop agreed to the transfer.


South Africa receives the land promised to it as per the terms of the cease-fire

Later, on June 12, Hitler began the next, improvised, stage of his plan. The Reich had suffered many casualties during the war with France, and was forced to delay the invasion of the Soviet Union until the population was properly mobilized for war. Until the German people were ready, the Reich would need to buy time and prepare. However, due to the defeat of France and the UK, Europe's remaining neutral nations were left isolated and helpless. Hitler adjusted the plan to deal with the nations directly bordering the Reich. First off was the partition of Czechoslovakia. With a German-friendly government in power and no friends to protect it, the Czechs gave in to the Reich's demands that it be partitioned between Germany and Hungary. The Reich annexed Bohemia and Moravia, while Hungary annexed Slovakia and Ruthenia. Yugoslavia, in response, offered to join the Axis. However, domestic opposition to the offer was very strong, and the possibility of Yugoslavia experiencing a coup was high. Von Ribbentrop delayed his response to the offer until Heeresgruppe C was in position, in the event that the current government required German intervention in order to stay in power.


The Partition of Czechoslovakia

Later, on June 14, Italy offered to take over the UK's former East African colonies, in order to allow the Reich to focus its efforts elsewhere. Hitler agreed, and the land transfer went into affect at 02:00 on June 15.


Italian East Africa

Shortly after the war ended, and South Africa received its land, both Argentina and the Republic of China approached von Ribbentrop. Both nations had lost territory to the UK and France over a hundred years prior, and wished for the territory to be returned. However, neither nation was credible enough to do so on their own, and required German assistance. The first nation to request aid was Argentina. Despite having the largest navy in South America, because Canada's borders were guaranteed by the United States, it could not risk a war, which Canada would no doubt pursue if pressured by the Argentinians. However, if Germany were to back the land transfer, Canada would likely accept. On June 18, Canada accepted the ultimatum and returned the Falkland and South Georgia islands to Argentina. There was, however, a catch to the agreement. Germany would not be willing to risk starting another war unless Argentina joined the Axis. The Argentinians were reluctant at first, but eventually gave in and signed the Anti-Comintern Pact.


Germany pressures Canada to honor Argentina's claims

The following day, von Ribbentrop presented China's demands to the French and Australian ambassadors. Not wanting a war, both agreed to transfer the concessions to the ROC. The Chinese willingly joined the Axis, as per Hitler's demands, thus cementing the Sino-German relationship.


Australia and the French State both give in to China's demands

Emboldened, the KMT also demanded independently of German involvement that the French colony of Indochina be administered by China instead of France. Due to domestic problems and distance, the French government agreed, and transferred the colony to the Republic of China. To the Reich, this was an odd move to make. With Japan having naval superiority and pushing south from Beiping, China couldn't afford to protect its new colony from a Japanese attack. However, Thailand was pressured to seek Chinese protection the following day, so perhaps the KMT's leaders felt that the two nations would support each other against Japan until Chinese reinforcements arrived, in the event of an attack.


China takes control of France's colony (Author's note: we forgot to change the text from Japan to China in this HPP version)

The state of the world on June 19, 1941. Note the new nations of Cyprus and Jamaica, and Australia and Canada taking over rest of the European's small colonies:
 
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Ouch. Nasty peace terms for Britain and France. I may have missed a mention of it in a prior update, but what's the fate of India now?

I hope the Soviets put up a good fight. Though I have no doubt over your ultimate triumph. :D
 
Ouch. Nasty peace terms for Britain and France. I may have missed a mention of it in a prior update, but what's the fate of India now?

India, like the other colonies is now independent.
 
There's still room for more conquest before Barbarossa, I assume, the Balkans and Turkey aren't far away and would require few forces to knock them out. Frankly, I'm somewhat more looking forward to the showdown with either the USA or Japan than the inevitable fight with Russia.

Seeing that rather large green Italian empire, Mussolini must be really proud of himself... for whatever reason.

What's the Reichs situation on resources? Handing all those provinces over to Italy etc reduces the income quite a bit.

Sorry if this has been asked already, but:
It seems as if Republican Spain was in the Allies. Does this mean that once the UK surrenders that all countries in the Allied camp are kicked out?
 
Chapter 29: Overview of the Axis and an Analysis of the War

The Axis Powers, led by Germany, had evolved from a collection of second-rates to the preeminent Power in Western Europe and Africa. While the war in Asia was yet to be decided, many across the globe felt that Japan would eventually lose to China. With the inclusion of Argentina and the RoC into the Axis, the alliance was capable of asserting itself almost anywhere in the world.


An overview of the militaries of the Axis members on June 19, 1940

By the end of the war, the Wehrmacht had almost fully brought the Heer up to its planned strength, with the final motorized and light bomber divisions scheduled to finish training before the end of the year. The Kriegsmarine would be brought up to 1/3 of its planned strength by January of 1942. While everything was almost ready for the planned attack against the Soviet Union, the major factor preventing the attack from occurring on time was the heavy losses sustained in France. Over 400,000 German troops were killed during the war, leaving only 337,000 volunteer recruits available for duty. Hitler and the rest of the NSDAP had begun an aggressive drive toward encouraging the German people, as well as those recently incorporated into the Reich, to volunteer for the Wehrmacht. This was necessary, because the Reich did not have a draft system in place and relied on professionals. It would take time until the politicians' efforts manifested into an increased recruiting drive.

Due to the annexation of the French naval bases, and the fact that France remained independent and autonomous, it could not be discounted that the French would later attempt to regain its lost territory. Therefore, the bases would be fortified extensively, and the border garrisoned. While it was considered highly unlikely the French would attack, the Reich was unwilling to present France an opportunity to do so.


Germany's military production on June 19, 1940 (Author's note: slider AI hadn't adjusted itself when I took the screenshot)

The war proved several concepts. The first was that using armor and motorized infantry to exploit any breaches in the line was superior to the old, methodical approach used by the Allies. However, the advantage in speed was lost in forests, cities, and when crossing rivers, and the battle would quickly turn into a slugging match. This was where the paratroopers and marines were most successful, and proved their worth. Another corps of marines was to be trained, as the first corps proved invaluable during the Siege of Paris, and Russia had many rivers that needed to be crossed. The marines would also be valuable in any future overseas conflicts.

While the Reich didn't have any mountain divisions at present, plans were drawn up to train four divisions when resources became available. The mountain troops would be useful in the Caucasus, Crimea, and other areas where armor and infantry would struggle, as the slow Battle of Scotland proved. The British Gurkhas were formidable opponents and had kept Armee 1 at bay for months, despite their poor situation.

The naval aspect proved to the Reich's leaders, that carriers, supported by battleships, had changed the nature of naval warfare, just like the Japanese had predicted. However, with the recent advances in aviation, it was predicted that CAGs would become even more lethal than they already were. This forced a change in Plan Z. While the next two fleets were almost completed, and the following 2 were being designed, it was decided that all subsequent battle fleets would consist of 2 fleet carriers, 3 light carriers, 4 heavy cruisers, 6 light cruisers, and 2 flotillas of Spähkreuzers, with no battleship escorts. This change to the plan, building the additional fleets, took into consideration future aircraft improvements and the fact that both the United States and Japan had already begun reorganizing their fleets into similar compositions. To further illustrate the importance aircraft carriers would have, a table was composed from data collected from the UK, Germany, China, Italy, France, and the conquered European nations.


The table showing ships sunk during the war. Click the picture for better resolution

The table clearly shows that the carriers reigned supreme. While the Bismarck and Tirpitz had sunk many ships, their kills were mainly destroyers, cruisers, and transports, with he HMS Warspite being the only capital ship sunk by the pair. The KMS Jade and KMS Seydlitz sunk more tonnage combined than the KM's battleships.

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@Konnigratz: Yes, the terms were nasty, just like the Treaty of Versailles was nasty and humiliating. The terms for France are based off of articles and maps I found (except for the UK's African colonies), while the terms for the UK are mostly fictional, but make sense given the context. The HPP has options for the UK to join the Axis and remain independent, but none of the conditions were met in this game. All of the UK's colonies we have nations for are now independent, since it wouldn't make sense for a former colonial power to somehow retain its control overseas after it lost its homeland. That's why Australia and Canada grabbed everything that we don't have a nation for.

@Baltasar: Yep, you're right. I don't have the MP for Barbarossa right now, and it's too late in the year to get to Moscow before winter. Yugoslavia may be next, if it suffers a coup; otherwise I have a few other options. Turkey won't be one of them though, as I have other plans for it.

Rep. Spain was never an Allies member. We managed to empty the Allies by kicking out everyone but the UK, then letting the UK surrender. Normally, the war would continue and one of the Commonwealth would remain as the leader of the Allies. By kicking everyone out, we also allow the US AI to recreate the Allies, which puts a whole new spin on the global situation, since the US will actively attempt to bring nations in. Because of that, the chances of the US joining the war on its own increase exponentially, as it might bring in a nation that an Axis minor attacks.
 
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Very interesting turn of events. This AAR is becoming even better. Looking forwards for coming posts.
 
Thanks for the update, it'll be interesting to see what these 'other options' are.

Do you guys have any plans to make HPP compatible with 2.04 anytime soon?